Just like cricket fans all across the globe, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar was left gobsmacked seeing what happened on Day 1 of the second Test between India and South Africa in Cape Town on Wednesday. A total of 23 wickets fell on the opening day of the match as bowlers ran riot, making the most of an extremely helpful Newlands pitch. While many fans and pundits got to see wickets tumble in front of them, Tendulkar missed most of the action as he was in a flight.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the Master Blaster summed up the Day 1 mayhem, as he described how quickly batters were epically dismissed in Cape Town.
"Cricket in '24 begins with 23 wickets falling in a single day. Unreal! Boarded a flight when South Africa was all out, and now that I'm home, the TV shows South Africa has lost 3 wickets. What did I miss?," Sachin wrote on X.
Cricket in ‘24 begins with 23 wickets falling in a single day.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 3, 2024
Unreal!
Boarded a flight when South Africa was all out, and now that I'm home, the TV shows South Africa has lost 3 wickets.
What did I miss?#SAvIND
After being bowled out for 55 in the first innings, South Africa were 62 for three in the second innings at the close, still 36 runs short of India's first innings total of 153.
Mohammed Siraj produced a sensational career-best spell of six for 15 as South Africa were bowled out before lunch after choosing to bat first on a pitch which gave considerable help to the fast bowlers throughout the day.
South Africa's total was their lowest in almost 92 years, since they were bowled out for 36 and 45 by Australia on a rain-affected pitch in Melbourne in February 1932.
It was the lowest total by any team in a Test against India, beating 62 by New Zealand in Mumbai in December 2021.
Siraj bowled superbly in an unchanged nine-over spell.
Stand-in South African captain Dean Elgar was dismissed twice on the first day of his final Test match.
Elgar was out for four and 12 in an ignominious end to a Test batting career which yielded 5347 runs in 86 matches at an average of 37.92.
Elgar was bowled by Siraj in the first innings and caught by Virat Kohli at first slip off Mukesh Kumar in the second innings.
As he reluctantly left the field after his second dismissal Indian players ran to shake his hand.
Elgar's opening partner Aiden Markram made just two in the first innings but was more in command in the second innings and was unbeaten on 36 at the close.
However, Tony de Zorzi and debutant Tristan Stubbs both fell for one run.
South Africa won the first Test in Centurion by an innings and 32 runs in a match which lasted only three days. The second Test looks set to be even shorter.
With AFP inputs
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.